


Knights

by blizzara



Category: Code Geass, Final Fantasy XIII Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-01 18:09:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5215580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blizzara/pseuds/blizzara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You’ve played your role well. The world is as we wished, isn’t it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knights

**Author's Note:**

> A crossover AU based on RP written for [Michi](http://mythril.dreamwidth.org/)! In this AU, "Zero" crashes the events of Final Fantasy XIII and became a l'Cie. Ark (of FFIX fame) was his Eidolon. This fic covers FFXIII-2 because Michi wasn't a fan of a title with no Light.

The shadow of Ark fell long over the group as they stood there, the Eidolon towering above them. Its gaze was impassive, attention fixed only on the l’Cie whose despair had brought it forth. In turn, Zero’s masked face was upturned as he returned the attention, every muscle in his body tense.

His eyes had finally stopped burning. With the abrupt cessation of hostilities, he couldn’t sense any further danger. Behind him, the others slowly lowered their weapons. It wasn’t the first time – Zero was the last to call forth his Eidolon. Faced with a barren world that showed no semblance of home, he had finally admitted to himself that he’d no means to keep the promises he had made.

And, despite his Geass, he had felt suddenly purposeless. Zero lived only to keep the dreams of Euphemia and Lelouch alive. He had no reason to live.

But then his fellow l’Cie had come running to his aid, just as he had for them. Perhaps he should have expected as much, after all they had been through. As Zero continued to watch Ark watch him, he knew he hadn’t expected it at all. He was anomalous in this world, a strange man in a costume who could barely handle a gunblade.

It felt like an eternity, and then Ark simply vanished with a burst of black feathers. The breeze caught them up, sweeping them past the l’Cie and causing Zero’s cape to flare out. It was just an instant, and in the time it took them to shield their eyes, nothing was left of the hulking mechanical entity that had once stood over them.

Lightning finally broke the silence, stepping forward. “You idiot – what were you thinking? You told every one of us we had to live, and then you go off alone to die?” Her tone implied she wouldn’t allow this as she growled the words out.

Fang laid a hand on her shoulder. “Now, now, we all had our moments. Zero here was bound to have one sooner or later. But we were all here, that’s what matters.”

Narrowing her eyes, Lightning didn’t respond.

Zero didn’t face them, still gazing at the place where Ark once stood. The words of his companions were muted to his ears. His purposelessness and defeat had called that thing here. There was no point to going on as Zero in a world where the Empire didn’t exist, though he supposed the government of Cocoon was no better. This world didn’t know Zero – and as a symbol, he had no effect.

So he had determined there was no reason for him to be, but…

But they had come for him. All of them, they’d looked out for each other all this way. He’d fought for them, and they had fought for him. Perhaps that was purpose enough. Perhaps… Lelouch wouldn’t begrudge his forced early retirement as the terrorist called Zero.

“I’ve had many titles, Zero among them,” his voice cut into the conversation behind him, drawing the attention of his company. Lifting a gloved hand, he gripped the faceplate of his helmet. It was cracked, weathered from their travels. “However, my name…”

With a tug came a small pop and the hiss of panels folding away with some difficulty. Too much grit and dirt had been caught in the mask. For the first time, they saw Zero’s brown, curly hair emerge – darker than it had been before for lack of light. He didn’t turn to face them immediately. The sunlight made his eyes water.

At last, with a small sigh, he tugged the black cloth from his mouth. “My name is Suzaku Kururugi.”

◦ ◦ ◦

“So she left through this thing…” Suzaku murmured, attention fixed on the gate in front of him. He wasn’t sure what he thought of Noel, or this notion of time travel, but he had to admit some hope was better than nothing. It had been too long since Lightning had seemingly vanished without a trace, and none of them seemed to remember why. 

Serah was the only one who remembered – or insisted she did. “But she was here – you believe me, don’t you, Suzaku?” Something in her eyes was so insistent, pleading for someone to understand. The look was one he recognized, though not from her.

Suzaku’s hand closed into a fist, glaring down at the toes of his boots. He did believe Serah, but not only for the force of her conviction. The instant that they’d been restored from crystal, he had sensed something. Whatever it was, it had set off his Geass. He only knew that because there came a sense of danger, and then a blank in his memory. It was disconcerting.

“What happened that day?” He grumbled, turning on his heel and picking his way out of the crater. The darkened sky was littered with foreign stars, and he knew that meant it was time to report back to Snow’s friends. Suzaku supposed they were his too, in a manner of speaking, but it wasn’t the same as his fellow l’Cie. The lot of them, however, were scattered.

Fang and Vanille were in the crystal pillar supporting Cocoon. Snow had left to look for Light, having faith in his fiancée’s words. Hope had left for the Academy, resolved to find a means to rescue their friends from crystal stasis without sending Cocoon crashing down on them all. Suzaku had stayed behind to help Serah – he couldn’t have imagined what it would be like alone.

Of course, now he was.

Just outside the NORA house, Suzaku looked to the sky again. He and Hope had convinced Lightning once to help them name the stars – albeit for triangulation purposes. It was still a memory that brought a small smile to his face. Those days were so eventful, they felt so brief.  
And distant, for that matter.

His gaze lingered on the sky a while longer, picking out the few stars they’d named before Light deemed the activity a waste of time. Where was she, really? Suzaku wished he knew.

The breeze swept by then, unusually chilly for the season, and spurred him into the house. Glancing about, Suzaku found himself alone. “Guess the others must’ve gone out on watch…” Having just finished his shift himself, he’d hoped to share his findings first, few as they were. Shaking his head, Suzaku shrugged out of his jacket and hung it up before settling in front of the fireplace.

Living in New Bodhum was different, there was no getting around that. The distractions of his world and those of Cocoon were gone. But monsters were a constant concern, and after that meteor crashed, everyone was on edge. With Serah having left, Suzaku was the last remaining former l’Cie and certainly one of the few trained soldiers in the settlement.

He’d found some solace in helping the recruits train and taking patrol shifts, but it was impossible to forget that they had all been separated. “And Light’s still…” Suzaku’s murmur was swallowed up by silence as he watched the fire, thoughts roiling in his mind.

Something flickered just out of sight and Suzaku turned. No one was there. Standing, he saw the odd mirror Serah’d said appeared out of nowhere the day previous. It hadn’t seemed particularly remarkable, aside from having a strange design, so he’d paid it no mind. Now, though, an image on his surface had effectively captured his attention. Slowly he approached it, brow furrowed in consternation.

There on the reflective surface was a pink-haired woman in silver armor racing around a ruined city as monsters came screeching toward her from all directions. Her sword and shield glimmered as she fought these creatures – until a man in black appeared.

Suzaku found himself rooted to the spot in front of the mirror, staring.

Lightning was in that mirror. There she was in some strange place, battling alone against a horde of enemies. And that man…Serah had described something like this before. But those had been dreams, she’d said. Seeing Light in a mirror like this was a different matter. Suzaku frowned as she watched her struggle against a foe who seemed to revive the moment she cut him down.

And then, suddenly, the image rippled away and Suzaku was left staring at himself.

Gloved hands seized the frame of the mirror as he looked for any trace of what he’d seen only moments before. “Light-!?” But she was gone. Only his own image remained, and after several tense moments, he let go of the mirror and turned away, gritting his teeth.

Somewhere, Lightning was fighting an impossible battle alone. Snow was looking for her. Serah was looking for her. Hope was researching ways to save her. Suzaku though…he’d stayed behind and waited.

“I won’t let her fight alone,” Suzaku finally resolved. Somehow, he’d have to find a way to wherever she was. Perhaps he should’ve tried to leave with Serah, but it sounded like it wouldn’t have worked. He recalled how she had explained the things Noel had told her. At the time, it sounded like science fiction, but the others had told him how she disappeared in shimmering light…

Retrieving his jacket, Suzaku strode back out the door, ignoring the cold night air. “She said to get through the gate, she needed something called an artifact. Something that doesn’t belong in this place…”

If anybody could find something like that, Suzaku was determined that he could. His search took him from the residences to the dock, then the monster-populated hill and tide pools. It wasn’t difficult to avoid the beasts, and fortunately there were few out at night, but Suzaku couldn’t find anything out of place.

Frustrated, he paused at the lip of the crater, fixing the gate with a frown. “How am I going t-”

Something crinkled under his boot, and Suzaku stepped back. The white paper was crumpled, only dimly illuminated by the moonlight, but its form was obvious. Kneeling, Suzaku picked up the paper crane, gently dusting the dirt off of it. Recognition lit his features as he stood. “Empress Nunnally’s…”

Once, Nunnally had given Zero this simple gift, and he’d known what it meant.

She knew his identity, but had never spoken it.

This had belonged in his living quarters, the only personal article he’d allowed himself aside the pin Euphemia had given him as her knight. It did not belong in this world, and perhaps, this was his key to follow Lightning into places – even times – unknown.

Suzaku hurried down the hill, half-skidding as he hastened to the gate. Reaching it, crane still cradled in his hands, he paused. He looked down at the origami, then back to the gate. This happened a few times over before he shifted his weight and looked around. “How do I..?” Suzaku felt so close, and at the same time, as though he may have run into a wall. Serah had not told him how to use an artifact, just that he needed one.

With a thoughtful hum, he lifted a hand toward the gate. Maybe there was some sort of trick to this…

A golden glow flared up around the gate. Suzaku jolted, taking a half-step back as wisps of illumination coiled around him, and then he was gone. All that remained where he once stood was a crumpled piece of folded paper.

◦ ◦ ◦

Suzaku found himself standing before an empty crystalline throne. All around were crumbling walls and broken pillars. Debris cracked between his boots and the checkered marble floor. He cast a glance around the room. All was silent – as far as he could tell, not a soul was in this place. The air was still, and even it felt somehow barren.

Once more he looked to the crystal throne. Ribbons of white light streamed down onto it, as though the murky nothingness split for this one object alone. There was something about the crystal amongst the gloom that drew him toward it, gravel scraping and crunching against tile with each step.

“Zero – a man who belongs in no time, in no place in this world…”

The words entered his mind so abruptly that he jerked to a halt, eyes darting around the chamber as he reached for his gunblade.

“I have something to ask of you.” Now that Suzaku listened closely, eyes trained on the shadows around him, the voice sounded weary. The speaker was weak, fatigued. Yet he couldn’t pinpoint just where the sound was coming from no matter how his eyes strained. “Will you hear my request?”

Several moments passed with pensive silence before Suzaku straightened, the hilt of his weapon in his grasp. It seemed this was enough to indicate his assent, and so, softly, the voice spoke once again.

“My power is fading…” Only then was it clear to Suzaku what he sensed as light flooded the throne, cold and bright. He could almost imagine an entity sitting there, addressing him. Part of him felt it was appropriate to kneel. The rest insisted that he stand. “In Valhalla, she protects what remains…”

“…You mean Lightning?” He asked, unable to help the interruption.

No reply came. Suzaku wondered if he’d ended the conversation by speaking up, but then… “Yes. I have bestowed my mark upon her, but it may not be enough. That is why…”

“You need another knight.” Suzaku finished for the voice, stiff with the weight of that notion. He saw the way Lightning was dressed, saw the way she fought. This entity had made her its champion. But it was possible that this was not enough, not against the foe to be faced. An enemy like that was not one to be taken lightly, he pondered as he looked to the floor for a moment.

 

Once again there was silence in the unsettling stillness of the room. The being who had addressed him spoke no further. It made the air feel as though it were thinner, somehow. Suzaku didn’t find himself fond of it, tensing all over.

Slowly, he looked back up to the throne. The light had dimmed, but glimmered with persistence.

“I understand.” It was all that needed to be said. Heat blossomed on the back of his neck – at once familiar and not. The warmth didn’t sear as the Pulse fal’Cie’s mark had. It didn’t send his Geass into a fit. Almost comforting, the warmth seeped into his skin, and he involuntarily reached back to touch the new mark that had replaced his faded brand.

Images flooded into his mind in that instant, and Suzaku fell very still. His eyes darted from left to right swiftly, as though the world were spinning. The words this being was too weary to tell him all came forth at once, jumbled and clear simultaneously. Very slowly, his hand moved to his face, covering his eyes as he braced himself lest he stumble under the tumult of this new connection.

At last the flood abated and Suzaku dropped his hand. Armor clinked with the movement as he looked down at himself. Lightning had been a shining, silver knight. He, however, had armor the color of charcoal. It occurred to him that a wry smile would have come to his face then, but somehow it did not.

A black knight indeed.

Suzaku knelt on one knee, head bowed and hand placed over his heart. He understood now what was needed of him. Find her. Save her. Do what those born to this world cannot, because he alone could. It was his turn to bring about a miracle, as Zero had always been known to do.

“Yes, my lord.”

◦ ◦ ◦

The boards creaked under his boots as he stepped onto the rooftop, and looked around. Oerba in this time was as barren as the day a band of l’Cie fighting their fate had found it, if not more so. The skeletons of homes, the local school, and shops stood amidst little else. Weathered remnants slowly crumbled their way into dust on shelves. All that seemed unchanged were Bhakti and its companion robots, circling the pavement in the square.

Suzaku had passed through many gates since the day he’d met Etro. Thus far, he’d been unable to find Lightning. He followed her shadow through one era to the next, but the only time he’d seen her was a flickering projection Hope had shown him. Some ten years older, the mage had been less surprised to see Suzaku unchanged, having encountered Serah not long beforehand.

He’d shared what he knew of Serah’s journey. She too had been unable to locate Lightning, but she had found Snow. From the sounds of Hope’s secondhand annoyance, Snow was certainly one man among them who hadn’t changed at all. But he too had seen no signs of their missing friend and ally.

Suzaku’s gaze wandered over the empty city, finding nothing but Cie’th and sand. Brittle bits of crystal caught on the breeze, tumbling through the hollow streets like baleful snow.

At last he spotted another gate and turned to depart.

There stood a young girl with long blue hair and emerald eyes. In her hand she held a flower – it was only then that Suzaku realized small potted plants were littered about the rooftop. This one place was the sole home of small, colorful flowers and patches of green grass. All else was draped in shades of sand and decay.

The girl gave him a tiny smile. “You have no place in the timeline, and yet…” She mused, fingers brushing lightly across the white petals of the daisy in her hand. “Hm… I can’t see you at all.”

Suzaku couldn’t help narrowing his eyes with puzzlement. “Do you have some business with me?” By now he’d come to suspect that if he, Serah, and Snow could move through time, there were bound to be others. Whether they were friend or foe was a matter he was not yet certain of, and even this little girl could be some kind of monster. He’d been familiar with such a concept long before finding himself in this world.

“Not at all.” Her reply was casual and she stepped past him with purposeful strides. “I’m waiting for someone else. They’ll be here very soon now.”

It had to be either Serah or Snow. Although it was just a feeling, Suzaku was dead certain of this. So far he had not encountered either one directly, although he’d helped to clear Serah and Noel’s path of unnecessary obstacles more than once. He knew he could not approach them directly – not when he hadn’t found Lightning yet. Going their separate paths, sooner or later someone would find her.

Still, he was concerned about this enigmatic girl.

“And what do you want with Serah?” He asked, unsure whether he would get an answer. Not bothering to face her, his gaze was instead on the streets once more. Thus far, there was no sign of the time-traveling duo. Hopefully, his business would be concluded before that changed.

Her shoes clicked lightly against the creaking rooftop. “I have a message for them about the timeline,” she replied at length, watching Suzaku curiously. He could feel her eyes on him, boring through the dark cape and darker armor. “…I see now. That’s how you’re moving through the timeline.”

This comment forced Suzaku to turn around, staring. “What-”

“You don’t belong.”

Something that doesn’t belong in this place…

_– a man who belongs in no time, in no place in this world…_

Recognition slowly came over his features. Suzaku set his jaw. In each time he’d found himself, there had been some memento of his home: a photograph, a cat-toy, a costume Milly’d convinced him to wear, so many painfully familiar remnants of a past lost to him for more reasons than one. He’d brought these objects to the gates he found, and off he went to another time. But it wasn’t that simple, was it?

It wasn’t the objects themselves that were activating the gates, no. He was in effect the artifact.

Her smile widened, and the girl turned away from him, hands clasped behind her. “Very soon now…”

◦ ◦ ◦

When he stepped onto the checkered tile floor, Suzaku briefly wondered if he’d gone in one big circle.

Of all the times and places he’d wandered, not once had he found Valhalla. It was as though it lay somewhere just beyond his reach. No matter how he chased after Lightning, he could never catch up with her. The notion was one he hated to entertain, and yet here he was, back where he had begun.

Etro had sent him after her, but had not given him any particular guidance since that day. All he knew was that first, he had to find Light and she was in Valhalla. Where and when Valhalla was located, he was entirely uncertain. Suzaku had been to the end of the world – a dark, desolate place with only a handful of human beings scraping something of a survival out of what was left. He thought it was the end of the world, anyhow.

Like Serah, he thought nothing of following her to the ends of the earth, the ends of time. It was his chance encounter with Lightning that had given him purpose and a second chance at being Suzaku Kururugi. Perhaps he had already made a mess of that, but he wanted to repay her. He wanted…

Suzaku frowned deeply at the bent his thoughts had taken and shook his head as though to dispel what clouded his mind. This was not the time for that.  
Though he knew where he was, this was a stretch of the ruins he had not traversed. He started walking.

The place was much larger than he’d first believed. Staircases staggered upward to crumble into nothing, stretches of a second floor abruptly cut off to form cliffs. In the shadows, he thought he saw someone, and he halted. Nothing stirred for a very long while as he stood there, certain in the silence that there was indeed someone.

And for the flicker of an instant, Suzaku looked upon a face he’d come to recall better than his own. She stood there in her pink dress smiling softly at him, hands primly clasped in front of her. “Princess Eu-” The moment he began to utter her name, red quickly seeped through her dress, a look of pain overtaking her features as her translucent form vanished. “Euphie!”

He screamed, running to catch her ghostly form before it hit the debris on the floor, but she was gone. Suzaku’s brows knit together as he watched the spot, his heart aching at even the image of his first love dying and suffering all over again. “Why…?” He grit the words out, hand clenching into a fist.

Why would this world show him such a thing? She wasn’t even from this place.

Slowly, reluctantly, Suzaku turned away and began walking again.

_Suzaku…_

At the sound of her voice, he whipped around immediately. No one was there. His heart felt heavier for it, and once more, he moved on. Somewhere, in some unknown time, Lightning was waiting for him. For once in his life, he wasn’t going to be too late to save someone who mattered to him. Just this once, if that was all he could ever have, let him be there for her.

In the distance Suzaku finally saw the landmark he had sought. Light poured into the crystal like a waterfall, and from where he stood he could barely make it out, but it was there. Heartened by this, he slid between two crumbling pillars and picked his way toward it. Somewhere around there, he’d find a way to leave this place.

_So you’ve come._

Suzaku halted as though he’d received a command, swallowing hard. He didn’t want to turn and see the owner of that voice. Not after all that had happened in this world. Not after everything they’d gone through and done.

Despite that, he turned and faced a man clad in white. “Lelouch…” His throat felt raw, saying that name, but for his part, Lelouch smiled with fond amusement.

_A knight serving a goddess now… Imagine such a world._

Suzaku’s eyes fell to the floor. “I’m sorry, I-”

_No. You’ve played your role well. The world is as we wished, isn’t it?_

With reluctance, Suzaku looked back up. Lelouch’s gaze was fixed on him – it truly was a question. He did not know. It made enough sense. Because he had died as part of their plan, of course he couldn’t know the outcome. They’d just been sure enough of the results to try. There was always a chance that all would have been for nothing.

“Yes, but…” Trailing off, Suzaku watched this Lelouch closely. He didn’t spontaneously begin to bleed and die as Euphemia had, but the smile never wavered. Something about it didn’t seem right, and Suzaku reached out toward this specter.

As though made of mist, Lelouch dissipated at a touch.

Distantly, Suzaku heard a girl’s giggle. He recognized the voice. In that instant, he knew something was wrong. But as he turned to hurry toward the throne once again, the world shook. A wail tore through the air, loud and inhuman, and blackness sprung up all around, racing in the direction he’d been headed.

In a blur, that darkness surged around and away from him, volumes of it he never would have expected to even exist in such a limited space. While he shouldn’t have known what it was, a part of him recognized it instantly. “Th-that’s Chaos-” In that instant he fell to his knees, hands clamped over his ears.

The agonized screams weren’t coming from around him – he was hearing them in his head. Those were the death throes of Etro, the goddess who had marked him, Lightning, and Serah. Something had gone very, very wrong, but Suzaku couldn’t think past the torture resounding in his head. As darkness surged through the empty world, all he could do was grit his teeth.

And then, as suddenly as it had come, it was gone. Stillness was all that remained.

Suzaku pushed himself back to his feet wearily. His eyes stung. Slowly he looked around. No roiling darkness, no phantoms of people lost to him. There was nothing at all but the ruins and a silence that had turned from unsettling to ghastly in the wake of that horrible screaming.

“The goddess is dead.”

It was the girl’s voice, and Suzaku turned swiftly, this way and that. But no one stood there save for himself. This translucent figure stood, an unnaturally broad grin on his face, holding the corpse of Lightning Farron like a bride. Though her face looked peaceful as though sleeping, black began to seep from the corners of her eyes and mouth like ink, streaming down her face.

Transfixed by this terrible image, it took Suzaku several seconds to realize this image of himself was also leaking inky blackness, still grinning as though oblivious to its own dreadful state.

Suzaku didn’t know why he was seeing these things. He began to shake; glaring darkly at the image someone had taken such care to show him. “I…I refuse to let that happen!” Once more he ran, the words ringing in his ears as he rushed toward the throne. Surely it was a lie, surely something else had happened, something else – anything else.  
The goddess is dead.

At last Suzaku came skidding to a stop in front of the throne. Pallid light trickled down on its faceted surface. Though weak, it was there. And perhaps if that was all that he saw, Suzaku would have derived some comfort in this.

But seated in the throne now was a crystalline figure. Sorrow radiated from that form, despair and strength mingled in the air. Suzaku was struck by a sense of loss that he didn’t entirely understand – it was not entirely his own. Sinking to his knees with a dull thud, Suzaku’s eyes burned. Not from his Geass, but from the tears he found himself unable to hold back.

“Light…ning,” he choked out, her translucent figure blurring before him as tears blotted out his vision.

She protects what remains…

Suzaku punched the floor with a cry of despair. Once again, he was too late. Once again, he’d failed to find a way to set things right without a terrible loss. Worse, he could feel that everything had gone terribly, horribly wrong. There was nothing that he could do. Etro had entreated him for aid, and all he’d ever done was wander through the timeline accomplishing nothing of merit.

In a place where time held no meaning, it was impossible to know how long he remained bent on the floor, mourning the loss of yet another person he had loved.

◦ ◦ ◦

Eventually, there were no more tears left. Having no more reason to leave this empty realm, Suzaku had not moved from the throne. So there he sat, his back against the pillar on which Lightning’s throne sat. No part of him wished to move from that place. Were it truly timeless, he’d simply sit there forever with her, the last person dear to his heart who he’d failed. 

In such a place he didn’t know how long it may have been when he lost consciousness, finally unable to stay awake. He’d devoted his time to protecting the Lightning in her crystal stasis as though there were anyone who would try to steal her away. No living soul remained here; he knew that rationally, but his desire to stay where he was remained.

It could have been hours or ages when a glimmer of light woke him.

Rubbing at his eyes wearily, Suzaku tipped his head up to look at the statue that was Lightning. Blearily he tried to focus his vision, squinting as though what he was seeing was wrong. However, the longer he looked, the more certain it was that the throne was empty.

Alarmed, he sprang to his feet, staring at the vacant throne as though it had grown a dozen eyes. It was bewildering. Only moments ago – surely – Lightning had been right there.  
Right in that spot. And now she had simply vanished? A woman made of crystal didn’t just vanish.

A tug at Suzaku’s cape tore him from this circular thought process and he stiffened, drawing his gunblade as he whipped around.

He choked on his breath when he saw her face, the arc of his blade coming to an abrupt halt.

There stood Lightning, eyes closed as though she wasn’t perfectly aware that weapon was so close to her face, wrapping his detached cape around herself. Otherwise, it appeared her armor was gone, leaving her bare. “You’re late, idiot.”

Suzaku was wrong to think that he was out of tears, mumbling her name out as he rubbed at his face with one arm. It would likely only serve to frustrate her if he just stood there crying, but despite telling himself this, he couldn’t seem to make it stop. “Light, I…I thought you… I’m so… Forgive me…”

Lightning heaved a sigh, finally settled on her midnight blue cape-dress, for the time being. “Like I said, idiot.” Her expression softened then, dropping a hand on the soft curls of his hair. The gesture made Suzaku very still, and she as quick to withdraw her hand as though scalded. “I didn’t ever expect you to be on time. I don’t think she did either.”

Truth be told, Lightning had a feeling Etro never expected Suzaku to arrive in Valhalla. If she had, surely she would have found some way to make it easier for him to get there. But she wouldn’t tell Suzaku that he’d been on some failed mission – certainly not based solely on her own theory. What had happened always seemed to be the inevitable path to Lightning. How many times had she seen that the future could not be changed? But they had all fought so hard for that very thing.

“I’m sorry…” Suzaku said once again, regaining his composure after what felt like an eternity to him. Lightning supposed she’d let it slide this time. From his face it was obvious that he’d been mourning her, and that was punishment enough.

She shook her head, a hand on her hip. “I never needed a knight to begin with.” Lightning knew by now the past Suzaku’d had, and no matter how he’d tried to hide it as Zero she was painfully aware that he had a white knight complex. Maybe when she was a little girl, before her parents were gone, she might’ve fancied that. A lot of girls did. But she was a soldier and she had no use for that kind of thing.

Somewhere along the way as she’d thought this, Suzaku’s gaze had fallen to the floor. She huffed. He was probably kicking himself again. How many times did she have to tell him to hold his head up high? For the sake of others, she’d seen him do impossible things, but when it came to himself… Sometimes, she wondered how a guy like this had managed to wedge his way into her heart.

But most of the time she promptly told herself she wasn’t going to ponder that.

“Like I said, I don’t need a hero to save the day. Guys like Snow get on my nerves,” Lightning stated the obvious, if only to try and lighten the mood somewhat. There wasn’t very much to be all that happy about, and like Suzaku she hadn’t a clue how long they’d been there (being timeless as it was), but moping around would change nothing. “But…”

There she paused, considering what she wanted to say. It was harder to lend her voice to than she’d anticipated, clearing her throat quietly. This kind of thing really wasn’t her strong suit; however, it needed to be said. Not just for his sake.

“…I think I wouldn’t mind having a partner.”

Suzaku gawked at her as though she’d grown horns. Lightning frowned, eyes narrowed, but before she could get anything out, she was caught in a tight embrace. Half-stumbling, she bit back her immediate response. Instead, she simply said, “…idiot.”

Somehow, she couldn’t help a small smile anyway.


End file.
